Marry me
by lilyme
Summary: This is how could 7x17 have played out without the catastrophic car crash and a few tweaks to the storyline


**Title: **Marry me**  
****Author: **lilyme **  
****Summary:**This is how could 7x17 have played out without the catastrophic car crash and a few tweaks to the storyline**  
Character******: ****Arizona/Callie**  
****Rating:** PG**  
******Disclaimer: ****I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended!

* * *

It was a sunny Saturday in spring as a lone black car made its way along a freeway near Seattle. Its passengers were Callie and Arizona, the blonde steering the car along the street safely, while bemusedly listening to Callie talking to her best friend on the phone.

Callie sucked in an excited breath, the following giggle only temporarily distracting her girlfriend behind the wheel. "She's moving back in?!" she squealed in excitement, waiting for Mark's affirmative answer before mildly slapping Arizona's arm with the back of her hand. "She's moving back in!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard it the first time," the blonde laughed at the ecstatic brunette next to her, before raising her voice a little so that the man on the other end of the line could hear her. "Good for you, Mark!"

He had gotten back together with Lexie a few months ago, and naturally he was over the moon about it. The fact that the resident apparently had decided to take this next step in their newly blossomed relationship was of course the icing on the cake.

Callie was so happy him. And Arizona had to admit that she wasn't too sad about it either. He wasn't looking at her boobs anymore... as far as she knew. At least they had the bedroom to themselves again, which was a big plus.

But Arizona acknowledged that the man had helped her a lot on the last months. Their little Italian dinner date to prove Callie that she could get along with her best friend had been a turning point. They still weren't exactly on best-buddy-basis, but they were getting along pretty okay.

That took a lot of strain out of her relationship with Callie. And it had positive side effects too. After all, it had been Mark who finally had convinced Callie to let Arizona paint her bat cave. Or rather _their_ bat cave.

So much had happened in the last year. Breaking up over disagreements about babies. Getting back together after staring into the eyes of death. Officially moving in together. Cristina and Owen moving into their own home. And Arizona... winning the Carter-Madison grant.

An event that had almost torn them apart again. Callie had been conflicted about being happy for the peds surgeon and being devastated because she knew that the original plan meant that her girlfriend, the outstanding peds surgeon would have to go to Africa for three years. To help establish a hospital in Malawi and save lives thousands of miles way from her.

But the blonde heart and soul had been equally as twisted.

This grant. She had applied for it over three years ago. Back when she had still been single. More than ready to commit to the ones who needed it most. And not ready to commit herself to a serious relationship.

It was her dream. Or... it had been. Had been for so long. Then Callie had come along and had turned her world upside down. And now suddenly faced with making a decision between Africa and Callie... she had known she would choose the latter.

She hadn't given up on Africa entirely, however. She was overseeing most things from Seattle with occasional trips to Malawi to help out.

It wasn't her original dream anymore. It wasn't three years in Africa doing what she knew she was born to do. But her vision of it all still remained.

And now she had even more. Her old dream. And her new ones. Which now even included baby showers.

… Okay, that one was a bit of a stretch. She still hated those.

But still she had organized one yesterday. With the help of Mark, who had a lot more feel when it came to that stuff, surprisingly. Scrapbook station, onesie decorating, whatever. It didn't matter to her, as long as Callie was happy.

And Callie had been happy about this. So she had been happy as well. Even though she could have lived without that balloon stuffed under her scrubs and that little tiara on her head that read "momma".

But seeing that huge smile on Callie's face had totally been worth it.

For Callie she would do anything. For Callie, and their baby.

Their baby. That thought still brought the silliest of smiles to her face.

With a couple of trips to L.A and the help of Addison, their baby was finally on the way. Neither of them had thought that it would work on the first try, but it had. And if the baby stayed on schedule, in 108 days they would finally be 'momma' and... well, okay, they had names to discuss.

Speaking of which... Arizona already knew that they were having a little girl. Doing ultrasounds often in her daily work, she could easily tell from the check-ups she's been to with Callie. But she didn't want to spoil her girlfriend's fun, since they had agreed on not wanting to know the baby's sex before birth... officially.

And Arizona had had enough fun secretly buying a few girls' clothes in the last weeks, and she could already imagine this little girl with Callie's black hair and big brown eyes one day wearing that insanely cute pink Minnie Mouse sweater.

Callie's adorable laugh at something Mark had said on the other line drew her out of that thought. "No, Mark, we don't need you to go paint shopping for our nursery yet. And we don't need either blue or pink," she chuckled at his latest effort to learn the secret kept between Arizona and the baby himself.

He had been desperate to find out. But it wasn't like he had any say in this matter – and Arizona had absolutely no intention on letting him in on her knowledge either. In the end he didn't care if in four months he'd be the godfather of a little boy or a little girl, that was pretty certain. "But I'm sure you can convince Lexie to go shopping with you for the apartment," Arizona provided as Callie readily held the phone's speaker to her. "You know how she loves to decorate".

"Hey, you wanna ask her right now?" Callie suggested with raised eyebrows. "Bet you're bored with your whacky neighbors gone already, huh?" she teased the man once more. "Yeah, we'll be fine those three days," she confirmed to an obvious question about the trip they were engaged in right now. "Okay, bye for now, Love you," she spoke before ending the call.

"Aww, you kinda choked him off there," Arizona pouted as she overtook a truck parked on the side of the road with ease.

"He'll live," the brunette chuckled. "And now...," she held up the phone ceremoniously so that her girlfriend could see out of the corner of her eye that...

"Did you just turn off your phone?" the blonde asked a little confused. Callie Torres was not someone who shut off her phone. Callie Torres was a phone addict.

"I did," the proclaimed addict smiled contently. "Or else he'd be calling again in half an hour. You know how he is".

"But you told him we'd be fine," Arizona argued, not even sure why. Not having Mark call constantly had its perks, she had to admit. "He's probably gonna worry when your phone goes straight to voice mail".

"All things taken into consideration," Callie calmed her, fully understanding this train of thought. "I left a message on my voice mail that tells every caller where we'll be and what I'll do to you over and over once we get there. Nasty, naughty things..."

"You what!?" Arizona exclaimed and nearly brought the car to a screeching halt. In panic. In arousal.

She felt the sudden need to call Callie's phone to hear her formulate what they were about to do over and over. Hot. Terrifying. Terrifyingly hot.

Her brain was really indecisive on this.

"Kidding!" Callie laughed. "It just tells everyone that we'll be gone for a few days".

"Oh," Arizona nodded in thanks for the clarification. But the thought of the nasties and naughties remained.

They hadn't done a lot of that in the last weeks. The changes of Callie's body often making her feel uncomfortable despite the effort Arizona put in showing her how desirable she was for her.

And she knew that at least some of this tension originated in the stress Callie felt herself going through. With trying to be her best at work and nurturing their unborn baby at the same time.

So, Arizona had arranged for them both to get some time off and had booked them a few days in a cozy B&B two hours away from Seattle to cool down and relax.

And obviously this had this welcome effect of Callie's libido reappearing. "So... it's just gonna be you and me?" she gave Callie her most radiant smile.

"You and me," Callie confirmed with a big smile of her own. "And, oh! And the baby," she laughed.

"Are they kicking you?" the blonde asked as she watched Callie put her hands on her growing belly.

"No, but we're definitely awake," her girlfriend returned. It had already been four weeks since the movements of the baby had become noticeable for Callie but it never once failed to amaze her.

"Good morning, baby," Arizona called out softly and put her hand on the side of Callie's tummy in greeting.

Their baby. She still had to realize that in the next days it'd be just Callie, the baby and herself. And no one to disturb them. She reached for her own phone lying on the dashboard and handed it to Callie. "You know what you have to do," she told her and Callie nodded with a happy expression before proceeding to put a message on Arizona's voice mail as well and shutting it off.

Meanwhile Arizona was on the lookout for a very specific spot on the side of the road. There was something she had planned. Something that was way bigger than a trip to a B&B. Something that was very important to her. And could change her life... their lives forever.

She slowed down the car gradually, getting them ready for what she had planned.

Callie noticed her girlfriend's actions and sent her a questioning glance sideways, which Arizona answered. "Do you, um, do you want to pull over for a bit?" she got out, glad that she had almost managed to keep that shaking out of her voice. She had practiced this scenario in her head over and over. Still it did little to calm her nervousness.

The brunette cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you need to pee?" she teased lightly, "Because I thought I was the one with the crazy bladder..."

Arizona smiled at the amused figure sitting next to her. She had learned early on during Callie's pregnancy that joking about the challenges this brought to the brunette's body was not a wise action. But laughing along the jokes Callie made herself was safe. Well, at least most of the time. "No, I just thought you'd want to relax your legs for a minute, maybe?"

"No, that's okay, and we're only thirty something minutes away. I'll be okay," she felt a warmth spread through her at Arizona's apparent concern. She had never been one to let herself be coddled; but there had been moments lately where she enjoyed the care and attention.

Arizona faltered for a moment. She hadn't anticipated a possible denial to her suggestion. Which she now realized was pretty stupid considering that Callie wasn't always predictable. Never had been. "Well, come on, honey," she cooed, "just for a few minutes... our room at the B&B won't be ready for a couple of hours anyway."

"Okay...," Callie scrunched her eyebrows at the blonde's weird behavior... and sudden need for a rest. And she was about to complain about them having hit the road so early if their room wasn't even ready for them. But...

"I have sandwiches," Arizona redirected her thoughts before that could happen.

Okay, that was a game changer. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and it was already hitting 12 pm. Now, if only...

"I packed some peanut butter ones as well," Arizona confessed and suddenly Callie was more than ready for that little break.

Arizona knew about her pregnancy cravings. And she had hoped that Callie's taste buds would eventually switch to something a little more... healthy like pickles, but Callie still stuck to her beloved peanut butter. However, they had an agreement. A peanut butter sandwich only twice a week.

Or apparently on special occasions like this one.

A couple of minutes later their picnic blanket was spread out under a tree that overlooked a beautiful valley in the Seattle area. Callie was seated on a pillow Arizona had thankfully brought along for her comfort and was leaning against the tree, for the moment content with enjoying the view. The picnic basket containing their food sat beside her still untouched.

The blonde had told her to sit tight while she went back to the car to get a thermos with tea and a bottle of water.

If she was being honest, heading back to the car to retrieve said liquids had been an excuse. They could easily have carried those with them on the first trip.

But she wanted, needed a few moments to herself. To collect herself, go over what she wanted to say.

This was going to be one of the most important moments... in their lives. And she wanted it to be perfect.

'Perfect'.

She repeated this word over and over in her head on the way back.

Until she rounded the tree and... felt the need to slap the back of her own head in good measure.

Maybe she shouldn't have left the basket in Callie's care.

Maybe she shouldn't have admitted to having packed her woman's current favorite food.

But certainly she should not have stored the tiny velvet box Callie now held between trembling fingers beneath said yummy goodness.

"Okay, okay... don't freak out. Don't freak out," she blubbered, at this moment not even sure which one of them she was trying to calm down. She deposited the bottle of water and the thermos on their blanket and dropped down in front of Callie, taking the little box from clammy hands. "I... wow... I thought you'd be sitting up higher with that pillow and all," she laughed nervously as Callie just continued to stare at her with an expression like a fish on land.

Arizona fidgeted around for a moment before dismissing the plan of getting up on one knee – the dress she had chosen to wear today making that practically impossible, anyway. One more thing she could have done differently in retrospect. So she sat back on her calves ad just looked at Callie for a moment.

Callie.

Her Callie. Her Calliope.

She was the one for her.

And now she wanted to make it official.

"Calliope... I love you more than anything," she started out slowly, this thought in her mind now clearer than it had ever been before. "You're the most amazing woman I've met in my entire life. And now you're giving me the most amazing thing in the world. You and our baby – you make me happier than I ever thought I could be." She reached out and grabbed Callie's hand with hers. Soothing Callie who still looked like she was going to hyperventilate any moment. And encouraging herself to continue. "You're... You're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. The one I want to wake up to every morning and the one I want to go to sleep with every night. And I am so grateful that I get to be with you".

She halted for a moment and took in a big, trembling breath in preparation for what would be next. "But I want more," she nodded her head with conviction. "I want to see you walking towards me in your wedding dress. I want to hear your vows. I want to be able to call you my wife. And in forty years from now, when our ten kids have finally left the house, I want to sit on our porch and hold your hand. And look back on all these wonderful moments we've had together. And I don't want to regret never having asked. So... Calliope Iphigenia Torres," she retracted her hand from Callie's to open the small black velvet box and reveal the plain white gold ring with a half carat diamond, "will you marry me?"

Seconds passed where she could hear nothing but the wind rustling through the trees and her fast beating heart.

And Callie looked... freeze-framed. Like someone had just pressed pause during the most important movie scene. Her gorgeous black dark eyes wide open in shock and her mouth still agape.

Arizona began to worry. Surely her love's neither verbal nor non-verbal response couldn't be interpreted as a good sign, right?

But why did Callie fail to give her the desired reaction?

Was it the ring? Had Callie opened the box before her return and just found the ring too appalling for words? She had known the ring would be an issue. She knew Callie didn't like anything too girly in jewelry. She had considered asking Mark for help. After all, he knew her best. But she also knew that he couldn't keep a secret. So she had confided in Teddy instead.

Had their idea been so way off?

Or did Callie simply not want to get married? Arizona had once dropped a casual comment about marrying before the baby was born. Callie had just shrugged at that. But Arizona had always thought that this would be important to her. With her catholic background and all.

Or was she just too scarred from her first marriage to take that step again? Once bitten, twice shy?

Or... did Callie want to get married... but didn't want to marry _her_?

Arizona's heart sank at that. It was definitely a thought worth dwelling on for a moment.

She could name reasons for an objection Callie might have to marrying her. But... no! She shook her head. "I'd... I'd be lying if I said that there weren't bumps in our road. We've had them and chances are we'll encounter some in the future. But-"

"You... You want to marry me?" the onset of a terrible babble rant was interrupted by a brunette having finally found her voice again.

"I... I do?" Arizona returned, not meaning for it to sound like a question but at this moment totally helpless.

Callie's expression slowly transformed into a smile. She had never thought she'd hear those words again. Would find someone willing to commit to her with everything they had. It was just so overwhelming. Especially since it was Arizona.

Not that she hadn't thought this would be a possibility in the future. But she had always imagined that she's be the one to ask. To catch the little butterfly that lightened up her life.

But now that it had happened this way... it was even more...

"Yes," she husked out.

… perfect.

"W-What?" Arizona inquired, not believing her ears of all a sudden.

"Yes," Callie spoke louder, her smile growing, "I'll... marry you".

And that was where Arizona's baby blues lit up again and her grin got so wide it threatened to split her face in two. She laughed incredulously as tears formed in her eyes and she leaned up to embrace Callie in the happiest of hugs she had ever given. On her cheeks she could feel the wetness of Callie's own joyous tears as her fiancee held her close.

Her fiancee.

She wanted to shout this out to the entire world. Calliope Torres was her fiancée!

Loosening the hug, she leaned back up to capture Callie's already awaiting lips in a tender kiss. "I love you," she whispered, letting their lips meet repeatedly.

"I love you too," Callie replied, softly cupping Arizona's cheeks in her hands and simply looking at her. "I love you so much, you don't even know it," she shook her head. It was true. She hadn't loved anyone this much before. Except their baby.

"I think I get the idea," Arizona chuckled and pecked her again.

Callie grinned at her soon-to-be-wife, and suddenly remembered something blatantly important, "Arizona Robbins... will you give me my ring?"

"Oh!" Arizona exclaimed, the box laying dumbly in her hand almost forgotten. She took the item and slid it onto Callie's ring finger, sighing in relief when it fit just perfectly.

"It's beautiful," Callie whispered, on the verge of crying again. "Thank you".

Arizona clasped the ring-decorated hand, at the brunette's teary expression having trouble holding her own emotions in check. "We're getting married," she whispered almost as incredulously as Callie had been before.

Her fiancèe brought their joint hands to her lips and gave Arizona's a soft, confirming kiss. "We're getting married," she confirmed with a smile and held their hands close to her chest.

Arizona laughed as her thumb caressed Callie's fingers. "Think we'll manage to get married before the baby is born?" the blonde asked. Feeling now more than before than they should address this topic.

"Hm," Callie pursed her lips. She certainly wanted to get married to Arizona as soon as possible. And that was not because she felt the need for the baby to be born into marriage. It was simply because she could hardly wait any longer.

But knowing that the due date was only a few months away, and knowing how much planning would go into creating the wedding the two of them wanted – the dresses alone – four months felt like a pretty short amount of time. "Well, we can certainly try," she chuckled as she brought their intertwined hands to lay in her lap. "Maybe the baby will come out the same day. It happens," she bemusedly.

"Oh!" Arizona laughed. "That'd be a plus. We'd never forget our anniversary," she joked. "And we'd have an amazing story to tell her- … or him," she quickly caught herself, fearing that she had just spilt that little secret of their baby being actually a baby girl.

But Callie hadn't noticed. Momentarily distracted by a sudden movement in her womb. "Hello, there," she giggled as her hand moved to her tummy. "I think they heard us talking about them". She said softly and smiled as Arizona perked up instantly and lay down to press her ear and hands to her belly. "Hi, there, my pretty baby," she cooed softly. "Did you hear? Your mamas are getting married".

Callie caressed Arizona's hair as this one continued to talk to their baby. Arizona loved this tiny, tiny person inside her so much. It was ridiculous how often they could be found in positions like this lately. Especially since the baby had started kicking. Callie loved feeling this too. Though she wasn't always a fan – especially not at night.

But the thought of the baby brought her back to something Arizona had said minutes ago. "So, do you still want those ten kids? Despite my hormone waves and all?"

"Yes!" Arizona said enthusiastically. "And more!"

"Oookay," Callie laughed amused but a teeny bit overwhelmed at the same time. "Let me get this one out first, then we can talk about having more kids, okay?"

"Okay," Arizona nodded as her hand was met with a tiny movement from inside Callie. "And maybe you won't have to do it all by yourself. Our ten plus kids..."

An audible gasp escaped Callie as her hand grasped the blonde's shoulder in wonder. Was she... "Arizona Robbins, are you suggesting that..."

"Shush...," the other woman interrupted, "... before I change my mind".

A new bout of tears made its way down Callie's cheek as she held her fiancee in her arms who in her turn held their baby as best as she could.

Arizona could see their future years shaping out in front of her eyes. Married. With tons of kids. And a house. And dogs. And chicken.

It was looking pretty perfect.

_END_


End file.
